2008 Linne Calodo Oustider

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, January 27, 2013

VINTAGE

2008

WINERY/PRODUCER

Linne Calodo

WINE NAME

Outsider

TYPE OF WINE

Red blend

COMPOSITION

72% Zinfandel, 18% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

N/A

REGION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Paso Robles, California

ALCOHOL CONTENT

15.9%

PRICE PAID

$55

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We bought this bottle at the winery’s tasting room in November, 2010.

BOUQUET

Based on this wine’s varietal make-up, the bouquet reveals classic Zin, Syrah, and Mourvedre characteristics, especially dark fruit, peppery and savory herbs, earth, and suggestions of oak.

 

TASTING NOTES

After getting home from our Paso wine adventure in November 2010, I made a note on my wine inventory to NOT drink this wine until after 2012.  As best I remember, this wine struck me as being very tight and spicy-beyond-belief and thought a couple of years in the cellar would allow this wine to reach its potential and to mellow-out a bit.  We bought it assuming it had magnificent potential (and even in 2010 it was fantastically delicious), but like most young, rambunctious, rowdy red wines, allowing it to “chill-out” for a couple of years almost always helps it to calm down and gain its composure and balance.  Let’s see if those two+ years in the cellar helped or hurt this exuberant young Whippersnapper………….

This is one of the best red blends I’ve ever tasted out of Paso Robles.  It’s rich, creamy, spicy, smooth, well-balanced, and delicious beyond belief!  We decanted it about an hour before dinner, but the wine probably could have benefited from another hour or so of decanting.  If you have this wine at home and want to open it this year (2013), I would suggest cooling it down and decanting it for a couple of hours (or more).

There are acres of black and red fruits (blackberries, raspberries, plums, and sour cherries), along with truck loads of black pepper and savory herbs to accentuate and support the earthy core/essence of this fantastic blend.  The spicy character/essence of this wine is almost to the point of ridiculousness; if you’re as obsessed with black pepper and savory herbs as I am, this is YOUR wine! 

As I’ve already mentioned, I remember this wine being young and spicy and knew that (at least) a couple of years of cellaring would help “tame” this wine’s rambunctiousness.  Sure enough, those 2+ years of cellaring has allowed this beauty to age, mellow, and mature (almost) to the point of perfection.  I was very concerned with the wine’s 15.9% alcohol level, assuming it was going to be a typical, ridiculous, high-octane Paso Fruit Bomb, but despite the abundance of alcohol, this is a magnificently well-balanced, beautifully well-structured, absurdly delicious red blend.  Linne Calodo has extracted maximum flavor, balance, elegance, and complexity out of the three varietals used in this magnificent red blend.  You don’t often see Zin, Syrah, and Mourvedre blended together (which is exactly why Stephan Asseo from L’Aventure (also in Paso Robles) fled the strict varietal requirements in France to come to America so he could blend whatever varietals he wanted to mix together!), but based on how well those three varietals “play together” in this wine/bottle, I think more vintners should give it a try.

This wine almost has a Southern Rhone quality to it; if I were to taste this wine blind, I would probably have assumed that this wine was a Syrah, Mourvedre, and Grenache blend.  Although it’s rich and creamy, it’s also somewhat light-bodied, suggesting that Grenache is somewhere in the blend.  Most Zins from Paso are/were ridiculously ripe and fruity (we went over to have dinner at a friend’s house last night and they opened a bottle of 2011 Opolo Zin, who used to make those typical Paso Fruit Bombs, but the Zin last night was actually well-balanced and light bodied), but the 72% Zinfandel used in this blend is gorgeously sublime and restrained.  Adding Syrah and Mourvedre only adds depth and complexity to the blend, resulting in a fantastically rich, delicious, SPICY, yummy, well-balanced, creamy, incredible red blend.

 

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We paired this red blend with one of my all-time favorite red meat dishes: lamb chops topped with a roasted garlic, rosemary, and parsley pesto.  This complex, delicious wine paired beautifully with the lamb chops and would/should pair perfectly with a just about any/all red meat dishes like a grilled ribeye, pot roast, prime rib, and curried lamb shanks.

AGING POTENTIAL

This wine is still young, exuberant, brash, wild, and rowdy and because of it’s alcohol, fruit, spice, and acidity, I would imagine this wine would continue to age well for another ten to twenty years.

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

93

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.linnecalodo.com/